1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to devices for use by the handicapped and by health care workers to facilitate the application of elastic hosiery upon the lower leg of a person. More particularly, the invention relates to an extremely simple collecting frame upon which the body of an elastic hose may be accumulated into a stabilized, dilated, and easily manipulatable configuration; even more particularly, the invention relates to such a device which may be readily drawn up the lower leg of a person during the application of such hosiery, and easily removed thereafter.
2. Description of Prior Art
In the past, the application of elastic hosiery upon the lower leg of a person, particularly support hosiery of the sort sold under the brand name SUP-HOSE, has been a relatively tedious task, requiring considerable time and considerable hand and arm strength. Such hosiery is often prescribed for elderly persons in the treatment of varicose vein conditions, and because of the extreme elasticity of such hosiery, it has often been impossible for persons of arthritic, obese, or similar infirm condition to fit such hosiery upon themselves, or to remove such hosiery if fitted by another. Such an inability is more than a mere inconvenience, as it imposes an actual helplessness and engenders an acute sense of dependence and infirmity even in cases of marginal handicap, as when the individual is quite able to `do for themselves` otherwise.
This problem is especially acute for persons who live alone, travel alone, or otherwise have limited access to personal assistance.
Moreover, owing to the extreme elasticity of such hosiery, health care workers who may be required to fit such hosiery upon their charges often experience difficulty in doing so. Even normal hand and arm strength may well be taxed when fitting one or more pairs of such hosiery, especially upon supine patients who are unable to offer assistance.
Additionally, varicose vein conditions often produce localized areas of extreme and persistant soreness on the surface of the human leg. The hands of a health care worker, especially the knuckles, have heretofore been prone to pressing upon or abrading such areas of soreness during the application of elastic hosiery, to the extreme discomfort of the patient.
In the past, the recommended method of applying elastic hosiery has involved turning the hosiery inside out, then positioning the toe portion of the elastic hosiery against the toes of the human foot and thereafter working the elastic hosiery up the human foot and leg and into position simultaneous to turning the elastic hosiery right side out. This method is difficult and time consuming at best, as it requires considerable hand strength, especially finger strength, and because it is rather difficult to ascertain the proper orientation of the foot portion of the hosiery relative to the human foot, and to maintain such orientation during the process of application. Also, considerable and extended body flexion is required of persons attempting to fit such hosiery upon themselves by the aforementioned method.
In common practice, a method of application is often adopted which involves rolling the hosiery up into a doughnut shape, and thereafter donning the elastic hosiery in the manner of an ordinary sock. This process is disadvantageous in that it requires a maximum of hand and arm strength to initially dilate and thereafter maintain the dilation of the totality of the elastic hosiery material. It is also difficult to apply elastic hosiery by this method to the leg of another person, especially if they are in a supine position. In so doing, such a person's leg must usually be raised several inches aloft, and suspended during the application process against rather vigorous pushing and pressure. The knee of an arthritic patient may be harmed by hyperextension during such a process.
Also, as the ankle of the patient must usually be slung in hammock fashion in a loop of the hosiery material, and the loop of hosiery material must then be drawn along the length of the patient's lower leg, surface conditions of the skin are easily excaberated, especially in the area of the calf of the leg.
Heretofore the known methods of applying elastic hosiery have been less than satisfactory, taxing to even normal hand and arm strength, and often entirely beyond the abilities of persons of arthritic or infirm character. Therefore, the need has arisen for a means and device whereby a health care worker may quickly and easily fit such hosiery upon the lower legs of one or more of their charges successively, without distress to any party, and means whereby a person of moderate disability such as an elderly, infirm, obese, or arthritic individual may successfully fit and remove such hosiery at will.
Such a device should be simple and durable in use, compact, readily portable in coat pocket or purse, and harmless to the fabric of elastic hosiery; such a device should also be noninjurious to humans in every reasonable circumstance of use or misuse. Such a device should be inexpensive to manufacture, and be manufactureable from common materials and by conventional processes. Such a device should employ principles of usage which are easily effected, easily instructed, and easily understood. Such a device should be manufactureable in unit construction to employ no moving parts, and alternativly, should be also manufactureable in hinged, folding, collapseable, or breakaway versions which employ few and simple moving parts and which attain even greater degrees of compactness, safty in use, or convenience in use.
Such a device, which achieves the objectives indicated, and other objectives, is the device of the invention, which may be generally described as an elastic hosiery applicator, which in the preferred embodiment includes a sized circlet of round wire fitted with equidistantly spaced and descending "legs", each having an outwardly projected blunt tip.
It will be obvious to those skilled in the art, upon examination of the accompanying drawing and specification, that considerable variation of the preferred embodiment may be achieved without departing from the spirit of the invention, and without departing from the scope of the subjoined claims. Moreover, in the specification, certain terms have been used for brevity, clearness, and understanding; but no unnecessary limitations are to be implied therefrom beyond the requirements of prior art, if any such obtains, because such terms are used for descriptive purposes and are intended to be broadly construed. The specification and illustration of the invention is indicative and by way of example, and is not limited to only the exact details shown or described.